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HomeMaking the Choice
Scholarships
The Applications
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Waiting for Decisions
The Final Choice
College To-Do
High School To-Do
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Choosing a Computer
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Clothes and Supplies
Orientation
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Buying Textbooks
The Roommate
Handling the Move
Saying Goodbye
The Empty Nest
Making the Choice
We'd been asking our son for two years to narrow down his choices for college so we could have an idea of the program requirements and general acceptance criteria for each. Every time we'd ask him if he'd given it any more thought we got the Standard Kid Response of rolling the eyes. He knew what he wanted to do with his life, but the problem was getting him interested in the concept of doing something about it.We tried to help him out by offering to drive him to the narrowed-down list of choices he was considering. So we put the child in the car and drove two hours to one of his choices and as we're driving around exclaiming about the wonderful campus ambiance, he was in the back seat with his iPod headphones in, reading a book. He couldn't have cared less about what the college looked like. If the fear of Social Services hadn't stopped me, I would have pulled over and pushed him out and had him walk home.
It used to be that kids simply went to the same college their parents went to, but the world is a much smaller place now. Kids these days are more likely to choose a school that has a strong program in their area of interest rather than for its geographical location. Unless they have always known what school they wanted to go to, make sure to keep asking them for their choices approximately every five seconds -- to keep them thinking about it.
Once they have a general idea, plan trips to those colleges so they (or at least you) can get a feel for the surrounding community before making a final decision on the final three. Take pictures and take notes, because just like house-hunting eventually all the schools start to look the same.